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; walk in the park 5 By Melanla Hennassay :5 CANADIAN cummou surr been that day â€" they just care if their field is ready," he said. "We have tokeepupthesamepaceandget Many Milton parents will likely rec- : the job done regardless of what the ognize Chris Tonner’s face. ' weather is like." As they're pushing their children on But Tonner doesn’t let that bother the swings and watching them frolic him as he takes pride in maintain- at Milton Community Park. the sea- ‘ crew of three summer staff. soned Town employee is diligently . "I've got a great group of guys; we working on the nearby landscape, { work well as a team," he said. "I can making sure the park remains in tip- ‘ also send any one of them to do a 5 top condition all summer long. i job on their own and I know it's go- : And while it has been a particularly ing to get done." _sweltering few weeks, you won't L through the splash pad on a hot day 3 ing the well-used park alongside his l. i l , sible to keep everything under conâ€" ‘ trol. Leading up to the Pan Am it was raining, so we had to make hay . when the sun shines." O .- .3 ' p . . . .v.' a, . \ felt particularly rewarding. It was af- g hear Tonner griping about the heat ‘é as he tends to the expansive â€"â€" and 3 still growing â€" park. 2 "When you work outside all winter \I; U , . , g and you re cold all wmter, you dont g complain when it finally gets hot," he said, referring to his alternate posi- ter the tornado ripped through the heart of Milton in 2009, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The Town had all hands on deck to help residents deal with the aftermath. calling in staff to work overtime and residents during the day â€" a perk ' of the job for a social person like 1 himself. ! "I really like working with people," ; he said. "And the great thing about ‘ Milton is, even though the popula- ‘ get the job done. tion has really grown, it doesn’t feel i‘ j "I remember coming down Childs , like it has. You can still walk down i , Drive and leaves and debris were Main Street and say hi to someone ‘ tion with the Town as a snowplow operator. "I think this is the wrong profession to be in if you don't like being outside." The long-time Miltonian and his crew are in charge of maintaining all aspects of the Community Park. from the fields to the bathrooms - a job so big that it's his full-time as- signment through the summer. While most grass around town is i and we would clean it up. A lot of ‘ people were upset because these brown and dormant. it’s green and " growing on the park's sports fields thanks to an irrigation system with 240 sprinkler heads. Lawn cutting keeps Tonner and his crew busy - a service that may seem almost invisible as many Communi- ty Park-goers are there at night, long after the day shift and hard work is over. When groups come to use the fields all over the road. Some trees were snapped off at the canopy, and oth- ers at the ground. We were pick- ing up truckloads of branches and dumping them at the fairgrounds." he said. "I worked a lot of overtime. We told people to bring it (branches and brush) out of their backyards . are trees that were so old and estab- lished, and now they're just gone. Knowing that we were helping them was rewarding." Tonner also helped make Milton shine during the Pan Am Games last year. you know. It’s the best of town and ‘ country, like the mayor says." ‘, t 50 how do Tanner and his team ‘ . beat the heat on those relentlessly hot summer days? "Since there's a splash pad at the . park. we just go and dunk our heads underneath the water," he said with i a laugh. "We also drink lots of water ,andcanworkmodifiedhoursifwe} i need to, like 6 am. to 2 pm. instead f l of 7 to 3, so we're on the job when ‘ also a must. along with special work '1 it’s not as hot and still getting eight ~ = hours worth of work." Tonner said he also sometimes ‘ saves irrigation system checks to ‘ 1 for some vacation time, Tonner re- . l ‘ particularly hot moments when he "We tried to make the town look 1 at good as we could," he said. "We , i wouldn't mind a mist of water to cool him down. pants the Town has provided that Y feature breathable mesh from the knee down. As he recently prepared to head off called there's something he has to ‘ do on the home front before he can relax. Town of Milton outdoor crew member Chris Tonner works to keep Milton Community Park in tip-top shape. ”hm/Manny” : "I need to cut my (own) grass." he ' said, noting it’s a task he doesn’t . grow tired of, even after tending to ‘ sports fields all day at the park. "I’m 3, really particular about my lawn." Don’t miss the final instalment of , the Champion's Working up a Sweat summer series next Thursday. at night, they don't care how hot it's would cut the grass as often as pos- ‘ Hats, sunglasses and sunscreen are yum laxniyrm From/$9 in“ ‘ "A!" mammal and local 'e'd'icl